Arcadis launches second year of startup accelerator program to shape future cities

Start-ups invited to participate in Arcadis City of 2030 Accelerator, Powered by Techstars

Amsterdam, August 1, 2019 – Arcadis, the leading global Design and Consultancy organization for natural and built assets, and Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, today launched the second year of the Arcadis City of 2030 Accelerator, Powered by Techstars, a global program aimed at identifying and developing innovative start-ups to transform the natural and built environment. The objective is to support start-ups that are working to revolutionize how we live, work and travel in cities now and in decades to come. The accelerator targets start-ups with innovative solutions that will shape the cities of the future.

Arcadis and Techstars invite start-ups with pioneering technologies and disruptive ideas to improve the quality of life across the following topics: mobility, resilience, resources (energy, water, food and air), urban development and regeneration.

After a selection process, ten start-ups will work with the program team during a three-month accelerator program. The companies get support from industry mentors to swiftly grow their business, fine tune products and business development efforts, build relevant networks, and develop client connections and industry insights. Arcadis provides the ten companies with working space at the Arcadis Innovation Hub in Amsterdam. Arcadis and Techstars will invest in the ten selected companies, each receiving a 3% equity stake.

The ten promising business initiatives of the first year of the program will continue to be supported by the Arcadis Techstars program. Examples include CityFlag, a collaborative and AI-enhanced digital platform for municipalities to communicate directly with residents, Urban Data Eye, a data analytics technology that maps and measures the location, movement and density of people in urban spaces, and Mela Works, a reporting and communication tool for “on-site” workers in construction and manufacturing settings. Not only did these and other program alumni companies triple their year-on-year revenues in aggregate during the accelerator program, but many are successfully raising capital for growth and working closely with Arcadis businesses and their clients worldwide on pilots and commercial agreements.

“We are excited to embark for the second year in a row on a journey with innovative start-ups in our joint quest to shape the city of the future. Today’s challenges for the communities we live and work in need unconventional solutions, for which we have to tap into different thinking, new technologies and entrepreneurial spirit. The Arcadis City of 2030 Accelerator, Powered by Techstars stimulates and facilitates this. Arcadis is determined to make this an integrated part of its solutions-based consultancy offer,” states Patrick van Hoof, Global Director Digital Innovation at Arcadis.

“As the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, Techstars is proud to work with Arcadis to deliver this mentorship-driven accelerator in Amsterdam, and further expand Techstars’ European presence,” said Dave Mendez, Managing Director of Arcadis City of 2030 Accelerator, Powered by Techstars. "Through the program entrepreneurs will have access to Smart City thought leaders and experts who will help the companies scale and grow their businesses in a matter of 13 weeks.”

Applications opened on 29 July, supported by an Arcadis-Techstars roadshow where program staff will travel the world in the coming months to meet with and source prospective start-ups for the 2020 program. Selection and offers made to ten start-ups will take place in December 2019 and the program at the Amsterdam hub will start in March 2020. The selected start-ups will be able to present their ideas to an audience of potential investors at a Demo Day in May 2020.

Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy organization for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 27,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate €3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com